The Underlying Reason

If my book is titled How I Survived My Husband's Brain Injury, and my blog is supposed to help people dealing with brain injuries, you may be wondering why I talk about religion and marriage so much.

I talk about marriage because I cannot really help my husband through his brain injury, or deal with it myself, if I don't have a good marriage. The reason we stayed together through all this, and are happy, is because I believe in marriage. I believe what I vowed to my husband on our wedding day. I believe that we are in this for better or worse.

And religion...well that is my foundation for everything. I wouldn't have the peace or strength to get through my husband's TBI without God. I wouldn't care about my marriage if I didn't hold to the belief system that I do. My belief in what Christ did on the cross changes everything.

I am different because of Christ's sacrifice. I see things through different eyes. I change the way I act because of what He did.

Not because I have to, but because I want to, out of gratitude. Just like a wife does nice things for her husband. She doesn't have to, but she loves him and wants to please him. I love Christ and want to live a life pleasing to Him.

I will mess up and make mistakes, but I try to live a life that reflects God as the center. When I do that everything else falls in line.

I am a better wife because Christ calls me to be. I have the ability to thrive in tragedy because I have God's strength in me. He is the underlying reason behind everything I do.

www.howisurvivedmyhusbandsbraininjury.com

What We Deserve

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised" Job 1:21b

I was reading the daily reading from "Jesus Calling" yesterday and it was a great reminder that God is ultimately in control. It said "The best response to losses or thwarted hope is praise" and then quotes Job 1:21.

I hear so often people saying they "deserve" something. They deserve a good job, healthy family, to be treated a certain way, to have a certain status...the list goes on.

The only thing we deserve is death. Yet, God saved us from that by sending His son to die on a cross for our sins.

So when we receive blessings, whether it's financial, emotional, friendships, whatever, we have to remember that it is in spite of what we have done, not because of it.

Everything we have is a gift, and it can be taken at any moment. We should enjoy what we have while we have it, but we can't get upset when it gets taken from us.

Just because it does get taken doesn't mean that God wants to punish us, or that we did something wrong. It may be for our own good. I don't know why He allows it, but He has the right.

When Jeff had his accident, everything I had placed my hope in was taken away. It made me realize that my hope was in material things, in MY plans for the future. It wasn't in God where it should have been.

It turned out to be a huge blessing. I was reminded that nothing was mine to begin with, and whatever God chooses to give me in the future I should count a blessing, not a right.

Job lost everything, and yet he praised the Lord. This should be our response as well.

We can praise God that even though we may lose everything in this world, we have eternal life through Him. We can have peace and joy through Him that can never be taken away.

www.howisurvivedmyhusbandsbraininjury.com

Transparent

I had a wonderful opportunity to share my testimony this weekend at the women’s retreat at my church.

We had smaller breakout sessions where the women got to choose which speaker they wanted to listen to. It was humbling to see how God selected the women to join my group. He knew just who needed to hear the message He gave me.

We focused on being transparent, so I was blessed with the opportunity to openly share the struggles I had after Jeff’s accident.

Too often we put on a mask and pretend that we are better off than we really are. But when we take the mask off, and let people really see us, not only does it help us, but it helps them too. It doesn’t mean we have to tell everyone every detail of our lives. But there is a time and place where it is appropriate to share our struggles, to be human, to let others in.

It was great this weekend to do that, and then watch how it impacted the women listening. They were able to open up and share their own struggles. Many who seemed to have kept it in too long. I was able to see in their eyes the weight that had been lifted by opening up.

We can’t be afraid to share our struggles. We don’t have to be perfect all the time. You never know how opening up will help someone else.


www.howisurvivedmyhusbandsbraininjury.com

In the News

There has been so much talk in the news lately. You know what I’m talking about. It’s very depressing and frustrating. But I’m not going to start a political debate. Instead, let’s make some news of our own!

Last week I shared about having a purpose in life. If you missed it, you can read it here.

I realized that the way I am to live out my purpose is through sharing the story God has given me. I've been trying to do that through my book, and through speaking engagements.

Recently I have been on KSAT12, and in the San Marcos paper the Daily Record. If you missed the newscast you can view it here.

I will be speaking at a women's retreat this weekend also. I love how God is opening these doors for me to share. It really seems that as soon as I recognized this, the doors started opening.

I would love your help to share my story though. Here are some ideas of how you can help!
1. Share my website, book, or blog on your Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn accounts.
2. If you have a blog of your own, mention me.
3. Tell your friends about my book.
4. If you know of someone looking for a speaker, tell them about me.
5. If you know of anyone I should contact, leave me a message on the contact form of my website at www.howisurvivedmyhusbandsbraininjury.com


And I love to hear from you. It is so encouraging when someone reaches out to me to share their own story. If my story has touched you somehow, feel free to contact me, or you can leave a comment below. I would also love to hear your own story of how God has changed your life! Let’s break the cycle of the depressing news, and share how God has worked in our lives!

www.howisurvivedmyhusbandsbraininjury.com

Purpose

I've read Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life" a couple times. I've always known that I have a purpose in life. I know that my purpose just like everyone else's life is to live my life for Christ.

However, having the knowledge of my purpose, and the picture of what that looks like in my life are 2 very different things.

I have always known what my purpose is, but I've had a hard time trying to decipher how I'm supposed to live that out.

That has left me feeling inadequate, and useless.

Recently though, God has revealed how He wants me to fulfill that purpose. It is freeing, and exciting!

God has given me a story to tell. He allowed me to go through tragedy and strengthen me through that process. I experienced the joy of watching God work in a situation where there was no hope. I watched miracles unfold before my eyes.

And now, I get to share that story! I get to share how God has worked in my life. I get to share the miracles I’ve seen. I get to share how God gave me strength beyond what I was capable of on my own. I get to share hope with others who have none.

What a blessing to finally know why God has me here, and how exactly to make the most of this time He has given me! When I realized this, a wave of relief and excitement washed over me.

When people look at me, I want them to see Christ. Now obviously, I’m human, I’m going to mess up and make mistakes. I’m not perfect, and I won’t always reflect Christ. But I can strive for it.

And now I can live each day looking for opportunities to share my story. To share how Christ has overcome! He conquered death, and paid for my sins. But He didn’t stop there, He continues to help me overcome obstacles in my life over and over again.

Are you looking for your purpose in life? It is to share Christ, it is to live for Him. Now you just have to figure out how God is calling you specifically to do that.


www.howisurvivedmyhusbandsbraininjury.com